


Meet me by the lake

by DrJackAndMissIole



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Domestic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fae & Fairies, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Merlin is a doctor, Modern Era, arthur is very much naked, avalon lake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 22:08:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17353523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrJackAndMissIole/pseuds/DrJackAndMissIole
Summary: Quiet lazy mornings, that's all Merlin asks for onceBUt, nO! Something had to happen and Merlin is happy, but he also spilled his coffee





	Meet me by the lake

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, I don't own shit.  
> I rated this M cause it contains nudity  
> No faes were harmed in the making of this ff  
> enjoy :)

Merlin was quietly drinking his third morning cup of coffee by the window when he felt it.

Being his day off from the hospital and not having any private appointments with his patients, he had decided to merely sleep in and later order Chinese food from the restaurant he liked most downtown and wait for it to be delivered at his door directly. All of this while not getting dressed in anything other than his comfortable pajama pants and a robe and while lounging on the couch sprawled like a cat, comfortably reading a new book that still had that nice particular smell of fresh pages.

How he loved the Twenty-first century!

As usual, the weather in London had only two moods: rainy or cloudy. That day, a soft and light drizzle was falling, making the world look grey and slightly annoyed.

He gently blew the mist off of his scolding cup and took a sip when he decided it was not so hot to burn his tongue off. It had happened one too many times and magic could prevent only third degree burning. He kept on looking outside, fascinated by the sky that, despite the constant pouring of water, had taken a particular brilliant shade of blue.

The sorcerer’s memory went immediately to a pair of eyes he used to stare at for hours, eyes that laughed at him and with him and worried about him nonstop. Eyes that looked briefly at him during a wedding, before an ill-fated ‘ _yes_. Eyes that roamed the room looking for him, always looking for him.

The eyes of the person Merlin loved most in the entire creation.

The sad smile on his lips was removed by another sip of the dark and slightly too sweet liquid.

Merlin was living by a saying he had heard once in his travels, by a Southern Italian woman that was serving him. At his saying that he’d want his coffee black, without sugar, she promptly poured him a coffee with two tablespoons of it, claiming:“ _Bivitillu duci, c’a a vita esti amara già ‘i sua”._

Drink it sweet, because life is already bitter on its own.

From that day on, he had only drunk sweet coffee. It somehow made life more bearable, especially on hopeless days where the sky was grey and slumber, full of rain and sorrow.

He listened to the sound of the drops hitting the window when he felt it.

His vision moved frantically and slightly blurred and his mind started spinning. He dropped his mug, that shattered in several smaller pieces, and spilled the coffee on the floor. It was almost like an earthquake, but not quite. Because he was the only one affected by the movement. Not a crooked frame on the wall, not a broken vase on the floor. Only an unsteady sorcerer standing in a pool of coffee. With a quick movement of his hand the mug came back up, once again all in once, and the liquid was absorbed by the wood of his parquet, leaving only a slightly darker coloration on some of the pieces.

 _This_ didn’t happen every day, but was a usual occurrence. Every time a creature of magic was born, the sky behaved rather oddly somehow and the other magical beings nearby could feel it happening. Exactly like a personal miniature earthquake.

The first time Merlin felt it was on the day Kilgharrah came back. He was the last dragon in Britain and thought of his whole species as lost, but as soon as he was freed from Uther’s prison he began travelling to the ends of the world. He found out that there were so many others, like him and different at the same time. Slowly, he brought Motherless eggs from the farthest points on the Earth.

When he came back to the last British Dragonlord, he came requesting his help with the newborns. So Merlin willingly did, but mid-flight he felt it. The Great Dragon simply laughed and explained the reason behind his dizziness. After all, it was not possible for a Dragonlord to experience flying sickness!

Now, Kilgharrah and his new family roamed free in Northern Scotland, in magical sacred lands protected by ancient spells. Merlin still went to visit several times a year, to check on the ‘ _babies_ ’.

After sitting down on his comfortable couch, the sorcerer began to wonder if that powerful wave was signalling another little dragon or something more. There were so many magical creatures, less and more powerful than other. But he simply couldn’t shake off the feeling that it wasn’t simply an ordinary creature, as ordinary as fire breathing dragons could be.

When the first new dragon, Murthag, was born, the sky had taken a lovely shade of red momentarily, the same exact colour as the scales on his back. Same happened with the other dragons: midday blue in the middle of the night for Saphira; black and gold during the sunrise for Odissea; bright green for Jacko as the day was about to end.

Merlin always managed to see the swift changes in the sky, but he rarely felt the pull from the Earth. Only when he was close to them, when Kilgharrah or anyone of the others came for him to warn him about an imminent egg that was to be broken.

This one felt different throughout: it was more powerful than the others and he couldn’t dismiss the colour of the sky. It was constant, not like anything else Merlin had experienced. Usually it changed for a mere few seconds, the universe welcoming another creature born of magic.

It didn’t feel wrong, per se, but not even right. Merely different. Unexplainable. And Merlin didn’t like things he couldn’t explain.

He rose up to his feet, testing his balance and went to open one of his books. His eyes were roaming through the pages when he heard a voice calling his name.

A voice that haunted his nightmares and populated his dreams. Old as he was and much more arrogant. A voice that was yelling his name fromt eh other side of the castle, waiting for him to bring breakfast and do his usual chores. A voice that whispered quietly his name as two lips met, two bodies moved closer and closer and closer.

The answer to this enigma couldn’t be found in books or in old prophecies. Not even the Great Dragon could anymore, since he was now with full on dementia and usually spoke gibberish anyway. He liked to remember the past, the Good Old Days of knights in shiny armours and fair ladies trapped inside of towers. But now he spoke even less sense about the future as he did once.

Only one place could reveal Merlin the truth. So he quickly got dressed, grabbed his phone, wallet, and keys, and simply disappeared.

***

He arrived on the shore, eyes open wide looking for a clue or, even better, for a Medieval blond prat dressed in armour.

Instead, he found only some faeries lounging around, smoking as usual.

Most lore and myth described fairies and the fair folk as petite, Tinker Bell style creatures that were always happy and helpful.  And they were not completely wrong. Although there were certain kinds of fairies that matched the description, there were also several others who didn’t.

The faeries, they preferred to be called with an e instead of an i, that lived near Avalon were tiny little things. They had green skin and translucent wings, not suited for long flights and journeys. They loved to simply lounge around, bath in the lake’s water and just smoke everything possible. Since cigarettes had become more and more available in the region, all they had to do was sneak around and steal several packets, that they would then cut and modify to fit their little hands.

That was how Merlin found them, chilling among no evidence of anything unusual.

“Emrys!” one of them called in their usual thick accent, marking the rs and slouching the vowels, till it sounded more like ‘ _Aeamrriis’._

“What are you doing here on those pretty lands?” asked another. They were almost swallowed by a cloud of mist and smoke that surrounded them. Too many too count.

“Didn’t you receive the signs as well?” asked the sorcerer with little patience. He should’ve known better than to raise up his hopes.

“More like we saw them climb out of the lake wrapped in shiny tin foil like the one that covers some of those fancy expensive chocolates with nuts and the loving messages.”

“You mean a _Bacio_ _Perugina_?”

“Exactly, do you carry any on yourself, Emrys?”

“I thought chocolate was bad for you.”

“It gets high as kites, nothing bad in that.” A murmur of approval came from the rest, followed by several other puffs of grey smoke.

“So, you saw a sweet emerge from the lake?” asked the sorcerer.

“Maybe to you it was sweet. Humans taste too fatty for us. We prefer not to chew” said the first one, revealing a row of baby teeth. Their particular kind usually didn’t lose them until they were old and near death.

“Someone came out of there ruining our peace. ‘Twas a human.” Said one from the back.

“You are not going to impress me with the use of ‘twas.”

“’Twasn’t trying to” replied the same faerie.

Losing all little patience still dwelled in his body, he shut them all magically. “One of you will tell me exactly what came out of the lake in brief concise words or I’ll wipe all you lot out of this green Earth!”

The first one that had spoken moved forward, terrified now. Merlin lifted the spell of them to allow them to talk.

“It was someone young. Blond and pretty for a human, even we thought so. We hid, afraid it might kill us, but it just looked around. It seemed high and confused, you can believe us. We know what it’s like to be high and confused.” The rest nodded their affirmation. “Then it started speaking the old language, We only understood some of it. It was complaining about a slave that was incomplete or something.”

“An incompetent servant?” filled in Merlin, his heart beating furiously in his chest.

“Yes! That!” The rest nodded furiously. “It then took off its tinfoil clothes and was, well. Naked. It had really good skin, for something that had just come out of the lake. Nice backside as well.” A shier nod this time. Merlin chuckled, before turning horrified towards the lake.

Tucked away near a tree not too far away laid an armour and a sword. Something he had polished one too many times to not recognise, now that he was seeing them.

“Where did he go?” he asked breathlessly.

“It went back to the lake. Tried washing its skin We believe.”

“Where is he now?”

“Not here.”

The sorcerer, several hundreds of years old, had to restrain himself from slapping the faerie. Counting slowly to ten in his mind, he said calmly:“Yes. I can see that. Where did he go?”

“A strong current came. We believe it followed the signs and the human was taken away to the rivers. It tried to swim, but ended under the waters and the currents dragged it butt naked up. It went that way” finished the faerie pointing towards the origin of the Thames.

All the other faeries raised their little arms and pointed to the same direction.

Merlin thanked them, removed the spell and, once again that day, disappeared.

***

Wind was blowing from every direction. Not a powerful, tornado-like blow, but a soft, insistent breeze that moved you.

Only, it didn’t come alone, for it was followed by a stream of curses and profanities. Merlin chucked at them, fondness filling his soul, and moved towards the direction of the voice, ignoring the wind.

Stuck in between two fallen tree branches, half of the body still in the water as the arms were trying to free themselves from the leaves, was a very naked man. He had blond hair that sparkled in the sunlight and was glued to his forehead by the water. He was giving Merlin the perfect view of his back, powerful and lean and adorned by a round scar that was red in a sea of pinkish skin. The water covered the rest of the backside, but the sorcerer knew the exact shape of every muscle, some better than others.

“Bloody Hell you crazy thing. I am your KING and I ORDER YOU TO MOVE!”, he said to the branches. Maybe his brain was still rebooting from the long sleep he had taken ( ~~Merlin refused to consider it as Death, he was merely sleeping for centuries the lazy clot pole)~~. Not too bad, he could deal with a crazy Once and Future King.

“Do you need help?” asked an amused sorcerer. But every trace of humour vanished when the other man turned around.

His face had not changed a bit. He looked healthy and refreshed and not pale and sick. On his abdomen was another scar, red in the middle of his abdominal muscles and slightly above his belly button.

When he realized who was talking to him, Arthur began immediately to sputter orders to his former manservant.

“Mer _lin_ , you bloody oaf! Do something! Use your magic to free me from this abomination!”

“All it takes to imprison the King of Camelot are some fallen branches and a strong current. If only your enemies back then knew how easy it was, I doubt they would’ve sent so many after you.” Came the sorcerer’s cheeky remark.

“I was caught with my guard down, you stupid thing! Help me or I swear I’ll have you thrown in the dungeons as soon as we get back to Camelot!”

There was that. He probably didn’t know what had happened. Searching a kind way to bring up the subject, Merlin helped him out of that unorthodox situation.

“Thank you, Merlin. See, it wasn’t that difficult after all!”

The sorcerer could only nod as he looked away from the very naked Arthur that stood in front of him. He sent a warm wind to quickly dry him down and made clothes appear on his body. He opted for a loose t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, considering that the King was still twice his size.

“I thought some loose clothing would be more appropriate, you know. Since you’re not exactly 20 anymore.”

“Are you saying I’m fat? AGAIN?”

“Now, you’re the one saying that. Not me.”

Arthur put immediately the other man into a headlock, wrapping his arms around his head and ruffling his hair, leaving them to stand in all directions.

The familiarity of that gesture and the affection he could hear in the King’s voice were too much for him. His body began shaking and Arthur readjusted his arms so that they were hugging now, Merlin’s face buried in the blonds’ chest.

“It’s okay, I’m okay. You see? I’m alright, we’re alright. I came back to you, I told you. I’ll always come back to you.” He murmured against the jet black hair. “I annoyed Death and now I’m back to annoy you, forever.”

Merlin raised his head and looked him in the eye. “I thought you didn’t know.”

“I woke up under a lake a little back ago...”

“Yes I know, I felt it!”

“Shut up Merlin! I’m talking!” said Arthur, loosening the hold but still keeping the sorcerer close. “There was something or someone under the lake with me and it explained that I had died and was waking up after some time.”

“Some time? You were gone more than 5 centuries!” exclaimed an outraged Merlin, smiling from giant ear to giant ear.

“And I still look this dashing. Beauty sleeps do wonders!”

They remained like that for a few more moments, foreheads touching and eyes closed, enjoying the other’s presence.

And then...

“Merlin? Do we have to remain here in the middle of a forest near some murderous branches or can we go somewhere else, near a fire maybe, cause I’m absolutely freezing and it’s all your fault!”

Laughing, the sorcerer held the King’s hand and, simply as that, they disappeared.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> A BIG THANKS TO MELIPEDIA CAUSE SHE MAKES ME WRITE STUFF WHEN I FEEL SAD  
> Tell me if you could catch the B99 reference ;)  
> Hope you enjoyed it, if you did please don't forget to leave a kudo and comment :) makes my day literally  
> Again, Thank you  
> Till next time  
> jo


End file.
